Tennis Roundup : Gilbert Upsets Becker and Meets Lendl Next

Succeeding where the U.S. Davis Cup team failed, Brad Gilbert shocked Boris Becker Saturday, winning 10 of the final 11 games in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory that moved him into the final of the $232,000 D.C. tournament at Washington.

In handing Becker his first loss on a hard-court surface this year, Gilbert earned a berth in tonight’s final against Ivan Lendl, who defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 7-6.

Lendl, ranked No. 1 in the world, owns an 11-0 lifetime record against Gilbert.

Becker, who spearheaded West Germany’s defeat of the U.S. Davis Cup team last weekend at Hartford, Conn., admitted he played poorly in the last two sets against Gilbert.

The West German said he was still weary from playing two five-set matches in three days against John McEnroe and Tim Mayotte.

“I had problems with my arms, elbows, legs, many things,” he said. “I lost it. Every day this week something else was hurting. Today, my left leg hurt and I couldn’t run very much. The whole week I suffered.”

Gilbert, however, said, “I don’t feel like I’m carrying the American flag.”

The third set marked only the third time in Becker’s career that he lost a set at love, and the first time since the 1986 Masters when he survived to defeat Frenchman Henri Leconte, 0-6, 6-1, 6-1.

“I felt like this was the worst match I’ve played against a really good player,” Gilbert said of his first meeting with Becker. “But he played horrible.”

Pam Shriver and Chris Evert won their singles matches at Vancouver, Canada, to propel the United States past Bulgaria and into the Federation Cup finals.

In today’s title match, the top-seeded Americans will play third-seeded West Germany, which upset second-seeded Czechoslovakia, 2-1.

Shriver defeated Katerina Maleeva, 6-3, 7-6, while Evert beat Manuela Maleeva, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

The Americans completed their 3-0 sweep when Evert and Shriver teamed to win the doubles, 6-1, 6-0, over Katerina Maleeva and Dora Rangelova.

West Germany advanced when Steffi Graf won her singles match, then teamed with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch to beat Hana Mandlikova and Helena Sukova, 7-5, 6-2, in the deciding doubles match.

Czechoslovakia had taken a 1-0 when Sukova beat Kohde-Kilsch, 7-6, 7-5, taking the tiebreaker in the opening set, 9-7.

Graf pulled the West Germans even when she defeated Mandlikova, 6-4, 6-1.

In today’s singles matches, Shriver will play Kohde-Kilsch, and Evert will meet Graf.

Australia’s Pat Cash defeated countryman John Fitzgerald, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the final of the $75,000 Hartmarx tournament at the John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

At 1:30 p.m. today, Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, will meet Kevin Curren, who defeated Richey Reneberg, 7-5, 6-4.

“I thought it was a good match,” Cash said of his semifinal Saturday. “I’m a lot more relaxed playing here than in Grand Prix events. You’ll see a lot of shots that you wouldn’t see normally.”

At Bastad, Sweden, second-seeded Stefan Edberg and fifth-seeded Joakim Nystrom made it an all-Swedish final in the $202,500 Swedish Open.

Edberg defeated defending champion Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-4, 6-0. Nystrom upset top-seeded countryman Mats Wilander, 6-2, 6-2.